Yoghurts five a day or not

Hi there. I'm not sure on this one, so I thought I would ask on here. DS, aged seven, is fussy about his food to say the least. If he had his way, he would live on Pot Noodles, youghurts, dairly dunkers and cheese strings. I am going shopping later on, so there wont be any pot noodles bought - end of arguement on that one. We are trying to educate ds on his five a day, and reward him if he improves his diet. This will also teach his younger sister of 21 months as she is starting to pick up on his fussy eating habits.Going back to five a day, ds thinks yoghurts count as one of their five a day. I disagree, on the basis that five yoghurts do not count as five portions of fruit. I know sometimes items are labelled as one of the 5 a day, but not always. What is the opinion on here? Maybe a happy medium shared by yoghurts, and the real thing. DS does like bananas and grapes, but will not eat vegetables - unless as part of a pot noodle. Now, would you count the peas in a pot noodle as one of the 5 a day. I'm not sure, but maybe I can be proven otherwise.

Update on this one. Pot noodles no longer exist in our house. Mealtimes are at the table, and everyone is sharing the family meal. To be fair, I have been working away this week, and have missed out on all this, but dw assures me that all is good. Looking forward to an early finish so we can all get together!

My 10 year old will eat everything we put in front of him. He is not fond of broccoli if we have something boring where the veg is just steamed and on the side, but he will eat some. He is Omnivore, pretty much.

Our 7 year old is currently very fussy, and I struggle to get fruit in him. Before he used to ask for plate fulls of fruit, and loved mango. Now he will turn his nose up at everything. Still eats his veg though but I worry that without the fruit he wont get enough vitamins. I am sure he would eat cheerios for every meal....

I dont think tinned fruit has much nutritional value though, it is a good idea to add fruit to jelly.

We used to sometimes buy those frozen berry mixes, and add the frozen berries to jelly while it was still liquid. It served two purposes: Add berries to the pudding, and the jelly would set quicker. With a dollop of custard, or some whipped cream, delish!

Ignore the Bernard Matthews style comments, there will always be some..... (speaking of which, my sons love their turkey escalopes, and I will serve them up now and then, in all fairness)

My ds is still a baby, so tell me if I'm talking rubbish..I think you need to build on what your son does like to eat, so if he likes yoghurt, could you add some fresh fruit to it e.g. strawberries, raspberries, peach etc.?

I'm not sure how nutritious they are, but would your son eat something like homemade banana muffins? They're easy to make and freeze at home, plus they have some fruit and if they're homemade they're not 'bad' food IMO!

How about getting some tinned fruit salad and adding a few chunks of fruit to jelly?

I agree with the poster who said about making egg noodles and adding some sauce and veg in - better than a Pot Noodle!

Spaghetti bolognese, cottage pie and pasta dishes are all good for adding vegetables (hidden or otherwise ;) )

Thank you for the helpful comments and to the condescending and patronising snobs, well, hope your superiority makes you feel good. This week we have had, homemade cottage pie, prawns,mange tout and noodles (ds refused and had pot noodle), pasta and mixed veg in a tomato sauce with cheese, sausage, mash and peas, the high end oven chip night and tomight sweet and sour chicken. DW works 30 hours and I to be fair, don't do any cooking. The junk night idea could work...Yes making smoothies could be good too. Sometimes it is money, we really are pretty skint alot of the time...Like the idea of homemade noodles too and hiding veg in bolognaise sauce. Ds used to eat spag bol and meatballs and pasta but not now.Its only this week he has had pot noodles, its not a regular thing. at school he will eat homemade burgers and wedges, pizza, macaroni cheese.thanks for recipe ivy kate.Lovely idea about sitting him down with receipe book too. We have become a bit farmfoods, i realise.... Still no need for such bitchiness however!

I use frozen spinach and put it in EVERYTHING- spag bol, chili, soup, pasta sauce. Nobody notices and they all eat it. Grated courgette melts down into nothing but is full of vitamins so you could put that in too.

Your DS cannot eat Pot Noodles if there are none in the house. If children are hungry an hour before tea, I just give them a drink as I tell them they need to be hungry when their tea arrives on the table.

I do sympathise though, my 2yo has completely gone off fruit and I am always trying new tricks to get it down him.

Have you tried Fruitapura? It's actually pureed fruit for babies but I still give these to my kids from time to time if I am worried about their 5 a day. They are in pots that look like yoghurt pots so you could try that maybe?

I also put drained tinned fruit in a sugar free jelly which works too.

I like the thought of options for tea, we have 5 options of tea for the week and my dd's can choose which options they have on which nights - but all the options must be eaten over the 5 nights until I produce the next 5 options - I get to choose the options when I go shopping

Davy, can you sit down at a PC or with a recipe book with your son and explain that he won't be getting pot noodle any more so you need him to talk to you about other foods that he might try? Look at the BBC Good food or cbeebies I can cook sites? Do you like the look of this? What ingredients here do you fancy trying? Pick me 3 dishes that you're willing to try etc.

Your son didn't know that he liked pot noodle or cheese strings until he tried them, so there will be other foods out there that he also likes, that he just hasn't tried yet. You're there to help him discover what they are.

What does he eat at school, presuming they don't put the kettle on for his pot noodle? Does your DS do any cooking? Could he help cook some noodles himself, and add sesame oil and soy sauce and peas, so it's like a pot noodle, and then build up from there?

Finally, why is your wife conceding to him? If you don't buy pot noodle, presumably she does, "we do often have plain noodles and various stir fry combinations, but when my wife asks my son what he wants, he always refuses this option" - why is he offered another option? Surely, he eats what's in front of him, even if he picks the chicken out and just eats the noodles, or goes without.

MethodCook the noodles according to the packet instructions (or use pre-cooked noodles). Drain and set aside. Put the stock, soy sauce, peas, sweetcorn and chicken in a pan over a medium heat. Bring to a simmer and cook for 2 minutes.In a small cup, mix the cornflour with 2 teaspoons of cold water and add to the contents of the pan then cook, stirring, for a further minute until the liquid thickens slightly. Add the noodles and spring onion and reheat briefly, stirring.

Have you got any old pot noddles pots you could serve them in? This would make it fun for them.

Also let your dc know that a fruit or vegetable only counts once per day - so if they have peas at lunch then it doesn't count at dinner time.

Does your dc like dips? Try having vegetable sticks as a starter with humous or other dips, chopped up cucumber, carrots, peppers and baby corn all chopped up on a plate with the dip at the table, everyone gets to dig in before the main course.

Or the same with fruit before the main course - all chopped up and on a plate

It is at this time they are hungry and more likely to want to try the vegetables and fruit

oooh messy stuff Quint! I use the hand held blender as i broke my kenwood making 'juicy ices' in the summer (basically a tray of ice cubes and a carton of fruit juice wizzed to make a sort of healthy slush puppy) so i feel your pain!

Can you designate one night a week as "junk night" - if DS' choice, if he has eaten all his fruit and veg on the other 6 nights?

Or maybe start the othe way round, and designate one night a week as "fresh food night", with no options, and then slowly build up from there.

It's not easy, I know, but occasionally we need a bit of tough love - he'll thank you one day.

PS - We make smoothies with a hand blender - there's no machine for the smoothie to "get in to". Ususally use a banana or mango for thickness, and add strawberies, raspberries, peaches, or whatever we have to hand. You can use frozen fruit too, which is just as good as fresh. DS could have some fun experimenting with different fruit combinations.

Soups are also a good way to get veg into kids - again, experiment with combinations.

Not making smoothies again. Not with a kenwood for sure! The smoothie managed to get INTO the machine, then came out of every nook and cranny.

I cleaned the machine up as best as I could, unscrewing screws and mopping up inside, and realized it was a lost cause. So took it back to the shop hoping it was on warranty.

It wasnt, as I had unscrewed it and invalidated the warranty. But, the bloke in the complaints department said (while winking) "Oh dear, it looks like you dropped your Kenwood on the floor! Good job you have accidental damage insurance! " That was a good 'un!

Going one further than NotQuint, i often blend the fruits with natural yoghurt and a splash of milk (we use soya yog and milk) to make a smoothie, no effort to drink (which i think is part of the appeal of some 'junk' food, there is no chewing involved!) and you can easily get 2 or 3 fruits in there. Also remember that baked beans also counts as 1.I've noticed recently that the heinz soups count too. I know you'd probably rather he ate homemade soups, but tinned ones might be a compromise.

YDdraigGoch. Interestingly enough, we do often have plain noodles and various stir fry combinations, but when my wife asks my son what he wants, he always refuses this option. We made a cottage pie last weekend, and ds helped to prepare the vegetables for this, but still did not want this choice. If we do things with bolognaise sauce, he also refuses - much preffering the 'junk' option.